All-Star Draft Column, Weighing in on Jay Cutler

New for USA Today: On the NHL’s All-Star draft, and I what I see it looking like (knowing the nature of hockey players)

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Maybe he was relevant in...what's his shirt say? '03?

The NHL All-Star game has hired an anthem singer. They has hired Clay Aiken.

Yes, seriously. They has.

As my boy Greg Wyshynski pointed out, this isn’t horrific because of Clay’s sexuality (obviously), it’s because he’s horrible to listen to. He’s just a glarlingly mismatched fit for the musical tastes of hockey fans, whether he’s from Carolina or not. He hasn’t even been relevant in the music scene, since, well, ever.

So yeah, boo on that.

On the other hand, who really gives a shit, I guess.

Let’s talk football, and shockingly, NOT the Jets! (HOW DO YOU CALL TWO PASS PLAYS WITH FOUR DOWNS FROM THE ONE???)

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Weighing in on Jay Cutler, and him sitting out the second half of the Bears/Packers game with an MCL tear:

Jay Cutler is getting abused pretty thoroughly, and getting defended just as adamantly on the internet today. Most people think that he could have played, and therefore should have played after tearing his MCL in the NFC Championship game.

pout pout pout

In general, I would agree with that statement, especially when said game is either going to get you into the Superbowl or end your season. As many atheletes have said, I myself played through some pretty brutal stuff, including games where I played on percaset and other unhealthy things. I never missed a hockey game (ten years, I think?) until I tore my MCL (yes, it sucks), and then later got that slapper in the face.

But I also think this: Jay Cutler is not soft. As someone pointed out today (I believe on Deadspin or The Big Lead, which heavily influenced my thoughts on this), he was sacked more than any other quarterback in the NFL this year (by TWELVE), and still played 15 of 16 games. He’s not afraid to go out there and get murdered, including the game he got sacked NINE TIMES in the first half, and stayed in the game.

So the guy knows himself and what he can take. (He’s certainly not afraid to stay in when he’s playing bad either, as evidenced by his love of multiple interception games.)

THROW IT HE'S COMINGGGG

But like when I tore my MCL, I knew I’d be less effective on the ice, combined with being in pain. I could’ve hobbled around, been distracted, and been less effective, but at what point is a team just better off with a healthy, slightly lower on the depth chart guy? Only Cutler knows how much less he would’ve been able to do than when he’s at 100%.

The big difference for me is, if I had to leave the game due to injury, I would immediately strap on the pom poms and try to help the boys out. I’d love to put on a headset and help with reads, or just pick guys up when they’re down and stay involved with the team, with the game.

But the reality is, Jay Cutler has never done that, where I was inclined to do it even when healthy. He’s never been a rah-rah guy. So it’s not like he quit and packed it in for just that game, he’s just constantly that…..meh.

My hunch is that he made the right decision (the Bears did mount a little charge with Caleb Haine or whatever his name was), a legit decision that he thought would help the Bears more than if he stuck around and airmailed more picks all day (and ultimately, it is his call, not the doctors. You can always bust out enough “I’m fine’s” and stay in).

It’s okay to point out as I have that others would’ve stayed in the game where Cutler didn’t, and maybe he could have , in fact, continued as the Bears QB in the biggest game of the year (also, his life).

But it’s also okay that Cutler probably made the decision that was best for the Bears, not his image.

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Last, because I denied you of Jiggs update pics pre-weekend…. here he is!

The good: he’s a good kitty, shares the litter box with Tyson well (who does the same), uses his scratching posts and all that good stuff. Loves being around us, isn’t scared of anything.

The bad: he’s got a little limp. We’re not sure from what, but we’re monitoring it to make sure Ty doesn’t kick his ass so much throughout the day, which he sorta does (in fun).

Comments

Wanted to know your opinion on the Nabokov thing. I was thinking of a way that the Islanders could save face. And I think they hold a lot of chips.

I know if they wanted to trade him he would be subjected to the waivers claims that had previously been placed on him. Could Snow put out the feelers with those teams that put claims on him and basically say what would you be willing to part with for me to change my mind and put him back on waivers. Like a something for nothing trade (player/prospect/ decent draft pick for the Islanders 7th rounder), with a wink and a nod from Snow that he would place him back on waivers the next day. It would basically limit the amount of suitors that he could be calling because the contract would go to the next to lowest seed from the Islanders but if that teams sold that their missing link is goaltending then they might be willing to give up a decent asset.

Also I read from Bob McKenzie that the Islanders could basically petition the NHL that Nabokov owes them a year of service at 570k which would mean he would be under contract for the 2011-2012 season at close to the league minimum which would be a pretty attractive trade asset even with a no movement clause (given that he would most certainly waive it because he’s made it pretty clear he doesn’t want to be on the Island)

The NHL and the NHLPA would probably frown down on the first option because it’s basically circumventing the CBA but it’s not like they taken the strongest stance against GM’s looking to circumvent the CBA

I think they went with Clay Aiken because he was relevant the same time that Switchfoot was (music for the All Star commercial). They must officially be eight years behind pop culture, which is probably good considering the Chaka Kahn and Def Leppard gaffes.

My cat all of a sudden started limping a while ago, at no point would he put any pressure on it. He seemed to respond positively when I rubbed around his hip, but screamed when I straightened his leg for him. He would sit on the window sill with his left leg dangling down, that’s what was comfortable.

It went on for a long enough while, and got a bit worse that I took him to the vet. The vet said it could be a number of different things, like maybe a pinched nerve, but very likely soft tissue, and she suggested laser therapy.

Laser therapy. Do it. If it’s soft tissue, do it. We got back home from the treatment and he slept for about four hours straight, obviously in a much deeper state than he ever had before. Then when he woke up, he immediately jumped onto the window sill and sat down in a normal position with pressure on his left leg. He sat down comfortably when he ate, he hadn’t made those movements in months.

I went in for another session two weeks later, and afterward there was absolutely no evidence left of an injured leg. He was more calm, he slept better, just everything got better, it made me happy.

If a vet recommends laser therapy, do it. It works in the same way that accupuncture does. One session was 15:00, $50.00.

“Clay… He’s just a glarlingly mismatched fit for the musical tastes of hockey fans, whether he’s from Carolina or not. He hasn’t even been relevant in the music scene, since, well, ever….On the other hand, who really gives a shit, I guess. ”

^^^ This was exactly my thought process. I went through about 15 seconds of “Why in the eff would they chose Cla….oh no one effing cares anyway about the anthem at the ASG so whatever.
I also completely agree on the Cutler thing. Dude got shitkicked every game at the beginning of the season and popped back up like one of those weighted blow-up clowns and now he’s a pussy for leaving the game with a knee injury that probably would have really hampered his game. Yeah, he sucks. I’m also peeved by people who say he should have faked being more injured on the sidelines to keep the fans happy—so it’s better if he’s a liar?? I’m tired of whiney J-E-T-S fans and whiney Bears fans today—both teams sucked at the beginning of the year and you should be thankful they made it to the conference championship game.

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About Justin Bourne

I'm a hockey player turned writer. After playing for Alaska Anchorage in the WCHA (NCAA), I carried on with an NHL tryout (New York Islanders in 2007) before spending a couple seasons in the AHL/ECHL (last year was 2008-09). My father, Bob Bourne, won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders in the '80's, as did my fiancee's dad, Clark Gillies. I'm now the web editor for theScore's hockey blog "Backhand Shelf."

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To my Mom, Dad, Glenn, brother Jeff and my fiance Brianna... thank you, I love you guys. Also, Uncle Ken, you've been an immeasurable help in this and I'm infinitely grateful. All my love to Aunt Kathy and Grandma, two of my favourite people in the world. Also to the extended family in Saskatchewan, I miss you guys. Thanks to friends like Neil Corbett and Dave Cunning for your support in an obscure endevour like this, and to friends like Charlie Kronschnabel and Nick Lowe for being guys who'll like me and not care (or possibly ask) why or what weird project I'm scheming on now. And thanks to all you long-lost-but-still-important friends I didn't mention. You know who you are.